Paper cup dispenser



Oct. 21, 1952 c. ROY

PAPER CUP DISPENSER Filed July 22, 1949 iatented Oct. 21 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2614,68? y p PAPER eUP DISPENSER earitua'neatii eat; Toronto, omens; carats Appueatiommy' -22, 1949, seriai no, its-21a r In canaaa July 1351949 This invention relates to improvementsin devices for dispensing nested articles; such as paper cups, ice cream cones and. thelike; and the principal object of the inventionis-to provide an extremely simple and inexpensive device which will have a very positive dispensing action, permitting and ensuring that'only avsingle cup or article can be withdrawn at one time to eliminate wastage occurring with. present dispensing devices. i I i a A- further and very important object is to provide a dispensing device which can ,be readily secured in the ordinary carton in which the nested articles are shipped whereby the shipping carton may bemade at relatively little extra cost into a convenient dispenserhaving an improved dispensing action overand eliminating the neces sity of current permanent'dispensersz. A still further object is to enable an ordinary shipping carton in which my dispenser has been or may be incorporated to besupported convcniently for dispensing:v from any supporting surface without reguiring any bracketor other holding means.

'Ilhe principal ieature of the chins; (c1; late-(t) informing a dispensing device to fitwithin the end of ashipping carton and to present a'novel a an me t. r e tl s t9 e ectu qa a ownwa d. pul h t t omeartic et e os tive separa o pf. h tt la la qm e e:

l e when. t9 e s r a t e t j are n e li d viduel n u t i neg a tiset e e es s, i vim: d' h h pi s t hwhieh il QtP P- main'der drt stack before permitting it to l of meme my .e' P i ieade iq l t l 5 if fi ns' m M ecu ed t wi e: fit i e d... t1 zi the an .swrs to rain a support't holdjthe" dispe ng. end oi carton clear o'f' thesupporting surface and 'dnvnient to the grip.

a piring to. the seat rigs n gts 1 is an 'elevational View of a normal ship- I p g (Sarto for paper cups artiall'y roken away I g lips mainta ning we stac' e 2 an underside plan v1 e'm ofthecarton. F1 re 3'is-ami through the lower dispensing nd'of'the" carton illustrating eleafly the dispensing action; Figure 4 is 9) pers ective View of lih rld the-carton and a dispensing deviceconstructed with filyinvel ltidfi in positiij'ri to be inserted 111136 9 l at diametrically oppositepoints are deflected 2 r Figure 5 is a perspective view of my dispensing device in strip form before being shaped for insertion into the carton.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 but showing, amodified form of dispenser strip.

Referring to the drawing, my dispensing device comprises a supporting strip I (Figure 5) from'which projects pairsof lips 2 which preferably are formed of plastic or nylon sheeting but maybeof anymaterial exhibiting resilient characteristics. v Inthe iorm shown inFigure 5, these lips 2 are integral, being connected by the backing 3 and are inserted through slots 4 in the strip I.

In the. modification shown in Figure 6, the lips 2. are actually formed from the strip I which itself is a resilient material.

.As seen from both Figures .5 and 6, the upper of the lips, 2 is inclined downwardly while the lower of .the lips is substantially horizontal or turned slightly upwardly, Figure 5, so that their planes-intersect to define an acute angle therebetween, and when the strips I or i are formed by bending along the score lines 5 into the rectangular frame of Figure 4 ready for insertion into the carton {i the pairs of lips are arranged in diagonally opposite relation.

My'dispensing device may either be adhered to the carton blank adjacent the bottom end during the forming of the carton so that it may form a combined shipping medium and dispenser, :or the dispenser may be purchased separately and inserted into the carton when received so that the carton then becomes a convenient' dispenser. In either case the strips 1 or I areadh'ered within the carton at the bottom or dispensing end-T.

Alternatively, if the carton is formed itself from a material exhibiting resilient properties, the lips 2. may be stamped out directly from the carton blank to provid my dispensing action.

The particular carton illustrated is for the holding of a stack of nested paper cups 8 which are provided with the usual bead upper edges 9, a s l be ee? r q t isure 2 d 3 t emtriytneiip 2 project inwardly of the periphery of the bead edges 9 to frictionally engage the wall of the cups 8, 1

A's clf'fly' ;sliown Figure 3, the spacing Ill between the upper and 1o'wer lips provides a" slot of s'ufiicint width tqreceive and admit the bead upper edge 9 or a s'inglefcup. j f A H In the dispensing action when the lowermost cup is pulled downwardly the upper coasts-rely inclined resilient lips 2 en aging the bead edge inwardly, permitting the cup edge to pass beneath their lower edges ll, whereupon being suddenly released they recover resiliently outwardly to engage and grip the next successive cup.

Upon clearing the lower edges ll of the upper lips 2 the bead edge of the cup being withdrawn enters the slot or spacing Ii! where movement therefrom is strongly resisted by the lower substantially horizontal lips 2. The fact that the space I is sufiicient to admit only one bead edge 9 prevents two cups from being drawn down at the same time, and as the lower lips 2 momentarily interrupt the downward movement of the cup being withdrawn the upper lips have suflicient time to recover upon being released to positively grip the succeeding cup. Due to the angular relation between the upper and lower lips and the cups, as shown particularly in Fig ure 3, with the angles defined between the upper lips and cup being less than the angles between the lower lips and cup, it will be obvious that the upper lips move through a smaller angle of deflection than the lower lips in dispensing thereby offering less resistance to the passage of the cup. Thus a pull on the cup which will withdraw it through the upper lips will not be suificient to force it past the lower lips so that the cups movement will be positively interrupted as explained. This action ensures complete separation of the lowermost cup from the remainder of the stack, and as the downward dispensing movement is continued the lowermost lips, having served their purpose of interrupting movement. sufficiently to permit the separation, yield to permit the bottom cup to be withdrawn.

The positive action of my dispensing lips in ensuring the separation of the lowermost cup before it completes its movement out of the carton prevents a number of cups from being withdrawn as occurs with present dispensing devices. Thus an important saving in present wastage is eliminated to enable full usage of each cup of the stack to be obtained.

For the convenience of the consumer it is desirable that the manufacturer incorporate a dispensing element or device in accordance with my invention directly in the carton 6 so that immediately upon opening the carton it can be used to dispense the contents.

To complete the carton 6 in accordance with my invention a tab l2,-which may form one of the closures for the upper end of the carton, is provided with an adhesive layer or film 13 to secure the carton in an upright position to a suitable supporting surface l4. Additionally, one of the closures 15 for the lower end of the carton is scored to be bent at I6 and returned to the wall of the carton, as shown in Figure 1, to form a lateral projection holding the lower end of the lateral projection described and the tab 12 is fastened to the supporting surface.

The weight of the stack of cups 8 will then force them downwardly against the upper lips 2 of the opposing lip pairs ready for dispensing as described, which, through my novel lip arrange- 4 ment, ensures that each cup is drawn individually.

The simplicity of construction of the dispensing device will enable it to be incorporated into existing cartons at relatively little increase in cost, or the device may be sold separately to be inserted by the purchaser as a highly desirable low cost article.

While I have particularly described the action of the dispensing device in connection with paper cups, it will be appreciated that it may be utilized in the dispensing of any stack of nested articles, for instance, ice cream cones or the like. The downward incline of the upper opposing lips 2 will permit the lowermost article to move downwardly without rupturing or fracturing the wall of the article being dispensed and will quickly recover to grip the next successive article when the article being dispensed has passed its lower edges I I.

Where a head is actually not provided on the article being dispensed the lower lips 2 will still exert sufficient friction pressure to provide an interruption in the downward movement of the article being dispensed to allow the upper lips to recover before the second article can be drawn therethrough.

While I have particularly described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the illustrated construction without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A dispensing device for a stack of nested articles comprising opposin pairs of upper and lower cantilever snap acting lips, means to support said lips in operative position at the end of a container holdin articles to be dispensed and including a dispensing opening, said lips being of a material having a spring flexibility appreciably greater thaneither of said container or the articles to be received therein to be dispensed and their cantilever arrangement permitting said lips to displace under spring tension under pressure from an article being dispensed without distortion of the article, the upper lip of each pair being inclined downwardly and the lower lip of each pair being substantially horizontal with respect to the plane of said dispensing opening and defining with the upper lip a space therebetween to receive the upper edge of a single article to be dispensed, the planes of said upper and lower lips defining an acute angle therebetween with the upper and lower lips engaging an article being dispensed at different contact angles and the angle between the upper lip and article being less than the angle between the lower lip and article whereby movement of an article being dispensed is resisted through a greater deflection angle by the lower lips than the upper lips.

2. A dispensing device for containers supporting a stack of nested paper cups or the like comprising a frame adapted for mounting at the dispensing end of a container and supporting opposing pairs of cantilever snap acting lips projecting inwardly thereof and arranged to engage cups to be dispensed adjacent the upper edge and on opposite sides thereof, said lips being of a material having a spring flexibility appreciably greater than the cups to be dispensed and with their cantilever arrangement permitting said lips to displace under spring tension under pressure from a cup being dispensed without distortion of the cup, each pair of lips comprisingan upper with the edges of said upper and lower lips engaging a cup being dispensed at difierent contact angles and the angle between the upper lip and cup being less than the angle between the lower lip and cup whereby movement of a cup being dispensed is resisted through a greater deflection angle by the lower lips than the upper lips.

3. A dispensing device for a stack of nested articles comprising a substantially rigid holder for the article stack presenting a rectangular opening of a size to permit passage of the articles to be dispensed downwardly therethrough, op-

posing pairs of cantilever lips of material having appreciably greater resiliency than the articles to be dispensed supported adjacent the sides of said opening to project inwardly of said opening to engage articles being dispensed, each of said lip pairs comprising an upper resilient lip folded downwardly and a lower resilient lip folded up-- Wardly with respect to the sides of said opening,

the planes of said upper and lower lips defining 6 an acute angle therebetween and the edges of said upper and lower lips being vertically spaced with the spacing being limited to support a single article therebetween, said upper and lower lips by virtue of the angularity therebetween engaging an article being dispensed in different angles of contact with the angle defined between the upper lip and article being the lesser restricting deflection of the upper resilient lip under dispensing to less than the lower lip whereby in dispensing an article is engaged by said lips at separate points of its travel with resistance to release offered by the lower'lips being greater than the upper lips.

CARLOTTA LEATI-I ROY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,346,792 Bergman July 13, 1920 1,429,701 Stephens Sept. 19, 1922 2,092,745 Horton Sept. 14, 1937 2,3 9,975 Buttery May 25, 1943 

